Letalis Lamia Antiquus : Arma Argentum
by Instigatoi2
Summary: An Ancient Vampire Clan has stolen a lost tome that belonged to the Master; It is up to Buffy to stop them of their evil plans, but she is going to need help from unlikely sources (Takes Place Right After Buffy Season 7 Finale)
1. Prologue

Title: Letalis Lamia Antiquus : Arma Argentum  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Buffy/Angel and company belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy.  
  
Author's Note: This is the first FanFiction I have ever written and posted. Take it! Read it! Love it, or Hate it! But don't try and pass it off as your own. Please tell me what you think.  
  
Pairings: Willow/Kenny, Faith/Buffy, and maybe one more with an unknown.  
  
Setting: Takes place right at the end of "Chosen" (Starts with the lines the show ended on)  
  
Prologue  
  
Constantinople, 1204  
  
The armored stone that had once provided a barrier from enemy threats on Constantinople's ground region was beginning to crumble. The protective wall was no longer keeping out the onslaught of the invading Venetians. The attackers advanced with determination, wearing silver chain mails under a fleece bearing the cross of Christ. Armed with bows, long swords, and torches, the Venetians, led by Isaac Angelus, the dethroned Emperor of Constantinople, stormed the city burning and ransacking homes and churches for any valuable treasures they could find. Arrows, bolts, canons and fire had killed off most of the knights and soldiers, as well as demolishing most of the towns structures.  
  
'This is truly hopeless,' Alexius Murzuphla, the defense of Constantinople, thought to himself.  
'It is going to take somewhat of a miracle to survive this onslaught and prevent the Venetians from seizing the city,' he acknowledged.  
  
He decided to fall back into Hagia Sophia, the church of the holy wisdom with an ark that belonged to Count Thibaud de Champagne. He had promised to keep this sealed treasure out of the hands of the evaders even if the cost was his life.  
  
..........  
  
Clerics and knights, in their eagerness to acquire famous and priceless relics, took part in the sack of churches. The Venetians received half of the treasures, each portion determined according to his or her rank. Most of the West was to be enriched with ornaments that were being stripped from the churches of Constantinople. During their ransacking of the churches, Dandolo, Baron of Venice, found Alexius kneeling in front of the cross at the head of the church. This church was beautiful, a vast circular dome hung around 100 of so feet overhead, while on both the east and the west, vast semi-domes surmounted three large vaulted niches of the sanctuary below. The windows that surrounded the church were stained and colored,and the ceiling was full of wonderful paintings of saints.  
  
"It is over, you have been defeated," claimed Dandolo triumphantly as he slowly made his way up the middle of the three isles.  
  
"You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over," Alexius stated as he turned to face his foe.  
  
"Give it up Murzuphla! You are foolish to believe such nonsense, you know as well as I do that the war is over, Constantinople now belongs to the Christians," Dandolo insisted as he stopped a few feet in front of Alexius.  
  
Alexius smiled. "You are the foolish one to believe that the war is over! It's far from over; this is just a step taken to bring on the apocalypse. We are only human, and we can be so naïve when it comes to seeing the clear picture." Alexius said with a light laugh.  
  
"What. What are you talking about Alexius?" Dandolo blurted, terrified at what he had just heard.  
  
"Time will tell Dandolo, time will tell!" Alexius stated as he lifted the lid off the ark. He then reached in and carefully took out a Vortex Orb that held a white glass crystal.  
  
"All I need to fulfill my destiny is a human sacrifice to power the orb!" Alexius continued. [i] "And I think you will do just fine." He laughed.  
  
Suddenly Dandolo felt someone pull his head back. He eyes met yellows eyes that seemed to glow. "Wha.Who are you?" Dandolo stuttered.  
  
"Why, I'm the beginning to your end my friend" the demonic figured stated. He pushed Dandolo's head to the side bearing his neck. "This will all be over shortly," he said as he sank his sharp fangs into Dandolo's neck.  
  
Alexius was pleased. "Very Good Baldwin, his life will be the key to bringing hell to this earth, it seems we will be victorious after all."  
  
..........  
  
Baldwin took the dead body of Dandolo and slung it over his shoulder. He took the body to the front of the church and placed it carefully on the stone alter, assuring that the body was in the right position. Alexius began to light the candles that were surrounding the alter. He claimed that the candles were needed in order to perform the ritual. When everything was prepared, Alexius took a cup that had been filled with Dandolo's blood, and splashed it on the Cross that was at the head of the church. Proceeding with the ritual, he brought the Vortex Orb and stood in just apex of Dandolo's body.  
  
"It is time Baldwin, take your position at the base of the alter." Alexius ordered.  
  
"Yes Sir!" Baldwin replied as he took his place.  
  
Alexius began to chant, which caused the white crystal to start glowing, giving off an amazing pure light, a magical mixture of fire and water. "Forem imperiosus peremptum tempus temporis pervalidus rubor." he was interrupted when the doors of the church were smashed open.  
  
"What is going on in here?" Isaac asked as he entered the door preceding his army of warriors. "Dandolo! Seize them, they are to be executed in the name of Christ for betrayal of the Holy Order." He yelled after he saw Dandolo's dead body on the alter. The first regiment of Isaac's troops approached the alter cautiously. Two of the knights grabbed Baldwin and attempted to carry him away.  
  
"You fools, you can not stop the inevitable!" Baldwin yelled as he shifted into game face. "The world is doomed no matter what you do. If you break the ritual, you could surely bring more destruction than that which would be brought if the ritual was completed!" He laughed. He then pushed off the two knights and dove for Isaac.  
  
"By the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, I banish you to the pits of hell!" Isaac said loudly as he swung at Baldwin's head. As he brought the sword back to his side, Baldwin's head was decapitated, followed by his body bursting into dust. Turning his attention back to the front of the church, he ordered his men  
  
"Seize him and bring him to me! This will end now." The knights obeyed the command and seized Alexius.  
  
"If you disturb the ritual, we will all die I promise you!" Alexius stated.  
  
Neglecting Alexius' statement the knights pulled him away from the alter and began to drag him to Isaac. The white Crystal began to turn black and the ground began to shake. The pillars that had held up the domes of the church were beginning to crack, and strong winds shattered the glass windows along the sides of the church.  
  
"I told you, we are all going to die!" Alexius yelled.  
  
Suddenly the crystal broke free from its Orb, and began to levitate in the air. The black crystal then began to give us a dark mass of energy the filled the church. Screams could be heard as the men tried to escape the expanding mist, but it was no use. The mass of energy took over each body like a plague, leaving them to die on the church floor. When it had finished sucking the life force out of each being inside the church, the crystal shot up into the sky and disappeared from site. Everything was then calm. The bodies of the knights, Isaac, and Alexius laid lifeless on the floor of the church.  
  
..........  
  
"What do you suppose we do now my lord?" A Dark figure said from the Church loft.  
  
"We will find the Crystal of Sepelio." His counterpart complied as he jumped to the floor below.  
  
"But my Lord Diabolus, that could take centuries, and the Master will not be pleased with us for letting it out of our grasp." The Dark figure stated.  
  
"The search will be hard, but we must find it. You must understand Acidus, the crystal has tremendous power, even you couldn't understand the unspeakable power that the Master could possess with this in his hands." Diabolus replied. Acidus snatched the Vortex Orb out of the lifeless hands of Alexius.  
  
"This will be useful for when we find the crystal" Acidus stated.  
  
"That it will be, lets get going, dawn is just a few hours away, and we got a long journey ahead of us." Diabolus answered. They took one more look at the bodies that now covered the church floor before turning and exiting the church doors, only to disappear into the darkness of the night.  
  
.......... 


	2. Chapter One : Moonlite

CHAPTER 1 : "Moonlite"  
  
Sunnydale 2003  
  
Faith, Giles, Dawn, Willow and Xander all gather around Buffy on the edge of a huge crater that was just formally Sunnydale. For the first time in so many years since she had become a Slayer, Buffy could not remember ever being this happy. There was that time when she had died and went to what seemed to be heaven, but other than that, this was the happiest moment of her life as a Slayer. The First Evil has been destroyed, and the Hellmouth is officially closed.  
  
Faith looked towards the crater, then turned back to Giles. "Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business." She tells him gladly, smirk obvious as soon as it hit her lips.  
  
"There's another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment," Giles interrupts them, jumping right back into business as usual.  
  
"We saved the world," Xander states trying to take in the whole situation.  
  
Willow corrects him in a serious tone. "We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere."  
  
"We'll have to find them" Dawn says to them.  
  
"We will" Willow replies.  
  
"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow." Giles adds reluctantly, knowing that now he wouldn't have to be taking that trip to the mall tomorrow.  
  
"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side." Dawn whines realizing that she has just destroyed ever girls favorite place in this world.  
  
Xander intrudes. "All those shops, gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toys R Us.who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world of them?"  
  
"We have a lot of work ahead of us." Giles adds in a serious voice.  
  
Faith sighs and turns to the others "Can I push him in?" she says playfully shoving Giles.  
  
"You've got my vote" Willow replies smiling.  
  
"I just want to sleep, yo. For like a week!" Faith tells him as she playfully shoves him once more.  
  
Dawn agrees. "I guess we all could. If we wanted to."  
  
"Yeah, The First is scrunched so. what do you think we should do, Buffy?" Willow says turning to her fellow blonde haired friend.  
  
Faith looks towards Buffy as well, "Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?"  
  
Dawn turns to Buffy also, "Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?" Dawn asked.  
  
Buffy just looks forward as a satisfied smile spreads across her face.  
  
"Earth to Buffy, hate to ruin the moment but we have to figure out what we are going to do now." Xander intrudes. Buffy's smile fades as she turns and looks at him.  
  
"Fire bad, Tree pretty." Buffy replies to him, smirk on her face.  
  
Giles smiles, realizing the irony in her choice of words. "Maybe we should all discuss this after we get some rest."  
  
"I'm all for that idea G-Man" Faith replies as she walks back onto the bus.  
  
Willow, Xander, Giles and Dawn take a last look at what is left of Sunnydale before following Faith back onto the bus.  
  
"Goodbye Sunnydale." Buffy silently says to herself before turning around and boarding the bus.  
  
When she got back onto the bus, she could hear all the former potentials cheering and arguing over what they are to do now. "Everyone, calm down! I know you are wondering what we are going to do now, but first we need to get some rest." Buffy told everyone as she took a seat at the head of the bus.  
  
"Buffy, we have a problem over here." The female Wicca said sadly as she lifted her eyes to meet Faith's.  
  
"What is it Wills?" Buffy asked as she got out of her seat and walked over to where Willow was leaning. When she made it to Willow she saw Wood's body lying against the left window of the bus. "I can't get a pulse. I.he is gone Buffy." Willow stated trying to avoid eye contact with Faith.  
  
"But, how? He was just talking not even five minutes ago? He said he was fine." Came Faith's voice so quietly Buffy barely picked up on it.  
  
"We will bury the body when we get farther away from Sunnydale." Buffy said almost more demanding the telling the group.  
  
She took another look at the former Principal and walked back to the front of the bus. She took a seat next to Faith who seemed to be unconsciously looking out the window. Buffy reached her out her hand and placed it on Faith's shoulders.  
  
"Are you alright Faith?" Buffy asked seriously concerned.  
  
"You know me B, I'm Five by Five." Faith answered her in a low, choppy voice.  
  
"Faith, it's okay to be upset, you just lost someone." Buffy told her trying to comfort her. 'Why am I doing this?' Buffy thought to herself. 'She is just going to be defensive and tell me to back off.'  
  
"Alright, how about you B? You just lost someone, and you're going to tell me how to act? Should I act like you? It's always why can't I act more like Buffy!" Faith shot at her as she turned to face her.  
  
When Buffy saw Faith's face she was shocked. She had never seen Faith crying besides the time when Kakisto's was in town. And even then it was because of fear, not caring. Buffy reached up and touched Faith's cheek, wiping away the stray tear that had fallen from her glossy eyes.  
  
"I am not asking you to be like me Faith, I am just saying that it is okay to cry." Buffy told her carefully, trying not to ruin this moment. Faith's usual tough as nails exterior seemed to be gone, and she didn't want to have Faith retreat back into her protective shell.  
  
"It hurts, I know. I've felt it before, and it is like your life is being taken away." Buffy continued as she kept eye contact with Faith. "And I want you to let it all out.the pain, the tears, all of it. I am here for you Faith." Buffy finished as she finally took her hand from Faith's cheek and reached down to grab Faith's hand.  
  
"B, I don't deserve you to be here for me. Every time you tried to be there for me in the past, every single time I turned it down and threw it in your face." Faith slowly said to Buffy while trying to keep her tears back.  
  
"Faith, I am offering to be there for you now. Lets not bring up the past and just deal with the here and now. Please Faith.let me help you." Buffy whispered, trying to be as comforting as possible. That was it, all it took to break through Faith's defenses. She fell forward into Buffy's arms crying on her shoulder. This is the first time Faith had ever really opened up to Buffy, and right now she was at a loss for words. All she could manage to do was put her arms around Faith and hold her. 'Okay Faith, let it all out, everything that you have been holding inside.' Buffy told herself.  
  
..........  
  
It had been about three hours since they left Sunnydale. Faith had fallen asleep while crying in Buffy's arms. Buffy had placed Faith carefully in the seat next to her and was talking to Willow and Xander about what they were going to do now. It was getting dark; the sun had just reached the horizon just above the forest tree line, and the two slayers, former potentials, Giles, Willow, and Xander were getting tired.  
  
"There is a motel just off Route 101. I stayed there once when I was coming back from L.A. after visiting Angel." It was really the only choice they had if they wanted to get any sleep soon. "Yea, I stayed there overnight, it was an average motel, it will do for tonight." Buffy convinced them. She knew it wasn't the best place for them to stop, but it was getting late and everyone was tired.  
  
"OK, but that only covers tonight. What are we going to do tomorrow?" Xander asked before realizing Buffy had spaced out.  
  
"What? Oh, tomorrow.right. I was thinking maybe stopping at Angel's place. He has enough rooms for us, and I don't think he would charge us for it. Well, he better not." Buffy laughed.  
  
..........  
  
The bus was covered in a blanket of silence. Giles had picked up the wheel and was going to drive the rest of the distance to the motel. It was now dark out; the darkness hung over the road like a blanket. There was no lights that lit the highway, and even with the high beams of the bus on the best you could see ahead was about three hundred or so feet. The rest of the bus had fallen asleep. Dawn and the Potentials had all dosed off while talking about their victory, and of course.boys. Xander had fallen right after Giles had taken over the wheel. Willow had fallen asleep before Xander handed over the reigns, and now rested in the seat right behind Giles with her head against the window. Buffy was still in a sitting position with her body half leaning on Faith, whose head was resting on her shoulder. Buffy tried to stay awake until they got to the motel, but failed soon as the conversations had ceased. She stirred every now and then, but was quickly back to sleep.  
  
..........  
  
Giles saw the lights to the Moonlight Motel flashing as he pulled into the parking lot. The Motel seemed unusually packed. 'I guess those who left Sunnydale decided to stray here.' Giles thought to himself. 'I hope they have some rooms left.' he continued to say to himself. He pulled along the side of the building trying to stay out of the way of any other cars. Taking a look behind him at all the sleeping persons, he knew this was going to be frustrating.  
  
"Everyone, get up, we're here. I want you all into your rooms as soon as possible, we are all in need of some bloody sleep."" Giles yelled, preparing for the worst.  
  
His wake up call had resulted in a bunch of whines and cries from the potentials, as well as Andrew complaining about the fact he was woken from a good dream. "Why did you have to wake me? I was just about to rescue Leia" Andrew whined.  
  
"So it was a perverted dream then?" Kennedy asked as she was making her way to the front of the bus. "Leia, sounds like a porno that was shot down to me. I am your rescuer Leia, I'm here to bring you to safety where I will lay ya." She finished and heard a slight laugh escape Willow's mouth as she was yawning.  
  
"What? Have you ever seen Star Wars? It is only on of the best Sci-Fi movies of its time!" Andrew argued obviously upset that this girl had made fun of his dream.  
  
"Listen that's all good and kinky kid, but I am in need of some rest. So if you don't mind, can we stop the arguing and hit the sack?" Came Faith's voice from the chair where her and Buffy were still sitting.  
  
"Hey B, we're there, it's time to get up." Faith said as she nudged Buffy's shoulder.  
  
"Huh? Oh, hey Faith, what's wrong?" Buffy asked completely lost.  
  
"Nothing's wrong B. We're at the Motel." Faith answered, standing up and fixing herself.  
  
"Really? Alright.Good." Buffy said as she sat up in her seat. The motel was packed. You could see all the cars parked along the side of the motel. Buffy got up and walked outside of the bus door carefully making sure not to tumble over face first into the ground. She was still exhausted, and could barely focus on what was going on.  
  
"Ahem, Buffy, I'm going to see if they have any rooms available." Giles told Buffy. "Also, I blocked us out of view from the motel's manager. It would be best if you took Wood into the forest now and bury him. I'll check if they have anything useful to use for the digging, and bring it back. Wait here" He finished as he began to walk off toward the main office at the far side of the motel.  
  
The motel was shabby; it looked like it hadn't been used in a long time before recently. The white paint that covered the exterior of the building was chipping away, and the windows that provided an outlook from each of the motel rooms were filthy with cobwebs and dust. The doors looked as if the were originally painted red, but the sun had faded it to a very light pink, almost white color. The room numbers that hanging on each door were falling apart, some rooms had numbers missing, hanging upside down, or no numbers at all. 'This place is filthy, but it will have to do for tonight I guess' Giles told himself. When he made it to the office, he found it looked. To the left of the door was a bell with a sign posted below it that read Ring If Needed. Giles casually rang the bell and waited for someone to answer. After a few moments of standing there the door slowly began to open. On the other side of the door stood a filthy, scruffy looking man. He was about six foot seven, brown eyes, dark brown hair, with large thick glasses that made his eyes bug out. He was dressed in a dirty white shirt, that looked as if it hadn't been washed in ages, and his jeans had holes in the knees and along the shins. He wore heavy boots that made him seem taller then he really was, and his beard made him look old and filthy.  
  
"What do you need?" The man asked angrily, as if Giles had imposed on him in the middle of something important.  
  
"Ah, yes. I was wondering if you have any rooms available?" Giles replied to him.  
  
"Yes, we have a few rooms left. Three to be exact, how many are you looking for?" The man said as he walked back into the office. "Come, I will need some information to calculate the cost." Giles followed behind the man as he took his place behind the desk. "Have a seat, this will only take a second" The man told Giles as he gestured with his hand towards the seat that rested on the other side of the desk. Obeying the man's suggestion, Giles carefully took a seat in the chair. It was hard and wobbly, any swaying to either side would probably cause the chair to collapse.  
  
"Okay, First I am going to need to know how many rooms you are going to need" The man asked as he took out a pen and paper with a form on it.  
  
"I am going to need to rent out all three if that's possible" Giles told the man hoping that he could get all three rooms.  
  
"Yes, yes, that you can. How many people will be staying in the rooms?" The man continued as he marked a few boxes on the form.  
  
"Nine girls, two males and myself, so twelve people." Giles answered the man. 'How are we going to work this out' Giles thought to himself.  
  
"Seems you have a crew with you. Alright, I can give you rooms 7, 13, and 14, but I must ask you to sign on the line here." The Man told Giles as he reached over the table and pointed to where he wanted it to be signed. Giles took the pad and signed his named on the required line. When he was finished he handed the pad and pen back to the man. The manager carefully checked over the form to make sure he filled it all out correct before handing over three separate keys that were attached to a diamond-shaped key-chain which had the room number that each key belonged to written on it. Giles took the keys and left the office after thanking the man for the rooms. Before he made he way back to the bus, he quietly took a shovel that was lying along the side of the building. 'This will do, hope Buffy has the body ready. I don't want anyone to see us dragging a dead corpse around in the middle of the night' Giles told himself. When he made it back to the bus all the former potentials were ready to hit the rooms, while Willow, Xander, Andrew and Kennedy just leaned against the bus waiting to hear what was going to happen. Buffy and Faith had carefully taken Wood's body to the front of the bus and were waiting for Giles to give them the go ahead on the burying.  
  
"Alright, here is the thing. There was only three rooms left, and each room has three beds, two have two in the main room, and one in a smaller room that will only be able to hold one person, while the third has one in the main room, with two bunk beds in the side room. I wasn't told which room had the bunk beds, but if there is a problem we can settle it when the time comes. The bigger beds can probably hold up to two or three, but I'm certain that the bunk beds will only be able to hold one per bunk." Giles explained to the group as he showed them the keys. "Buffy, how do you think we should work this?" Giles asked towards Buffy who was just getting off the bus.  
  
"Well, I figure Willow, Kennedy, Faith and I could take one room. You, Xander and Andrew can take the other, while Dawn and the other Potentials can take the last room." Buffy planed as she looked toward each and every one of the girls to see if they had any objections. "Is that okay with everyone?" Buffy asked towards the girls.  
  
"No." Could be heard in unison, as each girl expressed no arguments.  
  
"Alright, everyone can go get settled in" Buffy told them. "Wills, Faith and I will be back shortly. We are going to go bury Wood's body in the trees over there" she points towards the spot where she thinks will be best for the burial. "It shouldn't take us long, so don't worry about us. But remember that we will be coming to the room soon, so don't be doing anything you wouldn't want us walking in on." Buffy told her with a grin spread acrossed her face.  
  
"Okay Buffy, but make sure no demons or vamps just out and get you" Willow warned her friend.  
  
"Don't worry Wills, with Sunnydale destroyed and the First contained once again, I think it will be quiet around here for a while." Buffy assured her fellow Wicca taking away any doubts that there was any trouble lurking around in the woods right now.  
  
"Alright, we will stay up until you get in though, I'll see you in a bit Buffy." Willow confirmed to Buffy as she and Kennedy made their way to their room. All of the girls had quickly made their way to their room, and the only ones left behind were Xander and Giles.  
  
"Well, isn't this great? We save the world, and as a reward we get to stay the night in a crappy motel." Xander expressed with frustration while kicking some rocks that were at his feet.  
  
"Well, it could be worse. We could be stuck sleeping on the bus with a bunch of whining, screaming girls." Giles brought up.  
  
"Yo! I'll have you know I do not whine, and I'm use to staying at these types of places. It's where I grew up." Faith told them while her and Buffy carried Wood's body out of the bus. Buffy could sense that Faith was uncomfortable with the situation, and her usual comebacks were her way of trying to deal. Buffy didn't know exactly what had happened between Faith and Wood, but she believed it had to be something special, because Faith usually showed no emotions over anybody, or at least she never witnessed it.  
  
"Giles, go get some sleep. Faith and I will be back shortly." Buffy told him,  
  
"Yes, very well. Lets get to the room and make sure Andrew hasn't destroyed anything." Giles said as he threw his hands in the air submissively. With that said, Xander followed him up the stairs that lead to the second level of motel rooms. There was 28 rooms. 14 Rooms were opposite, facing the other 14, while in between them was the parking lot. At the top of the stairs was room 8, which meant they were down at the other end of the walkway. You could tell Xander wanted to complain about something, the look on his face made it apparent, but he kept his mouth shut. When they finally reached room 14, Xander realized that it was located right above the younger girls motel room.  
  
"Oh, this is just awesome. Lets hope they don't keep us up all night with their pointless conversations. I've never in my life met a bunch of girls who complained so much." Xander stated as he turned the doorknob and opened the door.  
  
"If I am right, didn't your girl complain more then all of them combined?" Andrew spoke out hearing the last part of Xander and Gile's conversation as they were opening the door. They both entered the room and took a look around.  
  
"Well, this isn't the Holiday Inn, but I guess it will have to do for the night" Giles said as he made his way over the one of the two beds that were in the main room. Xander still stood just inside the door looking amidst. The mention of Anya made him sick to his stomach. It was just like his Anya to do a stupid thing. He couldn't blame Andrew for her death, as much as he wanted to he knew it wasn't his fault. When he finally broke free of his trance he made his way to the bed besides Giles.  
  
"Giles and I will take the beds out here, you can get the one in the bedroom." Xander pointed to the door at the far left corner of the room.  
  
Back out in the woods Faith and Buffy had reached the spot they deemed proper. Buffy dug the hole allowing Faith to have a little alone time with Wood before they buried the body. The hole was easily dug, taking about five minutes to dig a nice sized whole to put the body in. When Buffy was finished, she glanced over towards Faith, who was just sitting in the dirt looking at the dead corpse.  
  
"Um, Faith. Are you ready?" Buffy asked as she placed the shovel down against the tree. She walked over to where Faith was sitting and took a position to the side of her.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright Faith? Do you want to talk about it?" Buffy asked her. She tried to make eye contact with her, but Faith was avoiding her stare as if she would turn to stone if they met eyes. Buffy reached down and grasped Faith's hand, squeezing it to show her support. Faith felt Buffy's hand tighten around hers, and she couldn't help but look up and smile. But as soon as the smile appeared, it quickly faded away, defensive shell taken its place back on the surface.  
  
"Faith? What is it?" Buffy pushed, hoping she wasn't pushing too far with Faith. She understood that Faith was hurting inside, but there was something else to it.  
  
"It's just, just.he was the first person to ever care for me, the first to return the care I was willing to give them. It might have been love, I guess I'll never know, but even now looking at his body, with you here I will feel weird. I'm so happy that we aren't fighting, and it makes me want to smile, but I just can't.ya' know?" Faith spit out in a low, soggy voice, you could sense the tears and emotion building up in her.  
  
"Faith," Buffy said to get her attention. It had worked, Faith raised her eyes to meet Buffy's, so Buffy continued, "It is okay to smile, it doesn't make you a bad person. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be completely miserable for the rest of your life. He would want you to be happy you know that. He was a good man, I know he didn't deserve to die, but these things happen. We will all miss him; he had a place in all our hearts. I mean he even had a place in Spike's heart.even if it because he was trying to Stake him." Buffy joked to try and lighten the mood. Faith's face looked as if it was fighting off an inner demon. But in the end she had failed, and a small chuckle left her lips.  
  
"See Faith, that wasn't so bad. Lets show him the respect he deserves and bury his body." Buffy whispered to Faith as she stood up, dusting herself off. Faith followed in the same motion, standing up and brushing off the dirt on her jeans. She walked over to Wood's body, Buffy preceding, and picked him up by the arms. Buffy quickly reached down and grabbed the legs, and they both carried the body carefully over to the hole that was dug. Buffy lightly set her end down first, letting the feet hit the ground, and Faith followed by slowly settling Wood's head down in the hole. Both took a moment to give their respects before finishing the job. Faith just casually began using her boots to move the dirt back into the whole, while Buffy went and grabbed the shovel from its resting spot against the tree. It took them a few minutes to carefully seal the hole, padding it down to make sure it was packed, before they headed back towards the motel.  
  
"So." Faith spoke up ceasing the silence that had come between them while the walked towards their motel room.  
  
"So, how do you want to work the sleeping arrangements?" Buffy asked in an attempt to make conversation. She didn't quite know how the rooms were set up, she only knew what was told to her which was that there is three beds in each room.  
  
"Well, I'll take the side room if you want the bigger bed, besides..." Faith looked down at her feet as they walked, "I still don't know if red will trust sleeping in a bed right next to me" Faith finished as she lifted her head and looked at the stairs. "Well, room 13 would be up there" Faith pointed to the room down the hall on the second level.  
  
"Alright, let's go get some sleep, we got a lot ahead of us." Buffy told Faith as she made her way up the stairs that lead to the second level. The stairs were metal, rusted from lack of attention; you could hear the creaking sounds as their feet hit each stair on the way up.  
  
When they reached their room, Buffy stopped in front of the door. "I hope we don't disturb anything" Buffy smirked as she turned the doorknob. She threw open the door to find Willow and Kennedy laying in a bed against the wall that extended into the center of the room. "So I guess we got the bunk bed room" Buffy figured as she realized there was only one bed in the main room.  
  
"Yea, the bunk beds are in the side room. If you want Buffy, Kennedy and I could take the bunk beds, and you and Faith could share this bed" Willow told Buffy with a wink apparent without it even being shown. 'I don't think that is such a good idea' Buffy thought to herself. 'It might be better if we didn't sleep in the same bed'.  
  
"It's okay Wills, the bunk beds will do fine for Faith and I" Buffy answered as she made her way across the room. The room was an average size. A Table Stand was located to the right side of Willow's bed and was pushed against the wall. On it sat a lap that barely lit the room. The main room evolved into a kitchen, which couldn't have been bigger then the size of the bathroom. A tiny fridgerator, stove, and microwave was all that made up the kitchen. Buffy passed the small television that sat on a stand against the wall opposite of the bed. She finally made her way to the side room, which Faith in tow.  
  
"A whole room, all to ourselves, kinky" Faith joked as she came to a stop behind Buffy. Buffy reached for the door handle and opened the door slowly. On the other side stood a window that looked out the back of their room, with two bunk beds along side the wall.  
  
"Do you want to be on top of bottom Faith?" Buffy asked as she made her way inside the small room. Faith followed her in and took a look at what would be their beds for the night. "You know me B, I always like it on top" Faith smirked as she climbed up onto the top bunk. Buffy blushed at Faith's remark, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable. She looked up at Faith who had taken a sitting position on the bunk above. The beds were very narrow, Faith's legs hung over the sides of the bunk, with her back against the wall. Faith was looking down at her, and even though she had been joking around, it looked like something was still bugging her. Buffy decided to climb up and took a seat next to Faith.  
  
"I hope this thing can hold us without collapsing" Faith pointed out. She seemed to be inching herself away from Buffy since she got up there.  
  
"Faith, are you sure you're alright? This.this isn't like you. Something has to be bothering you." Buffy stated as she moved closer to Faith. "Is it something I did? Buffy asked curious if she did something to hurt the brunette slayer.  
  
"Huh? No, it's nothing.I'm just overwhelmed ya' know. I came back to Sunnydale because Willow said that you could use my help. I didn't expect you guys to accept me back, or to even acknowledge me. I came back to fight the good fight, I still can't believe that I am here with you, Willow and the others, and actually getting along without fighting. This is how I wished it would have been before." Faith looked down at the floor. A single tear had left her eyes. "I'm sorry Buffy.I swear to you I am, I'm sorry for everything that I did to hurt you and your friends. Please, forgive me." Faith pleaded as she hid her face in her hands.  
  
Buffy reached up and pulled Faith's hands away from her face. She was in pain, and Buffy didn't know what to do to help. It was confusing, but at the same time it all made sense. Everything that had occurred all those years ago were mere memories. Buffy would never be able to forget what Faith had done to her and her friends, but she realized Faith was truly sorry, and was working so hard toward proving she was good. Everyone had changed, so many things had happen since Faith had gone all psycho. Adam, Glory, she had even died and been brought back. All the things Faith did seemed so little anymore. She realized it was time to start over; she would forgive Faith for what had been done, and hope to work toward better times. So she did the only thing she could think of doing. She took Faiths hand in her own and tilted her head towards Faith's. The younger Slayer was still in tears as Buffy kissed her forehead. "Shh, Faith.It's okay, I forgive you." Buffy whispered into her ear.  
  
Faith broke down into sobs as she gripped Buffy in a hug. Buffy couldn't tell if they were tears of pain or tears of joy, all she did was put her arms around Faith and returned the hug. Faith was totally at awe, never in her life since she had going to jail did she think Buffy would ever forgive her, it was overwhelming. "I.I love you, Buffy." Faith told her. The last statement had taken Buffy by surprise. She didn't really know how to act or what to say, so she did the best she could without hurting Faith. "I'm here for you Faith, I always will be" Buffy answered with a tear in her eyes. Faith's sobbing had ceased when she feel asleep. Buffy laid down with Faith in her arms trying to keep herself positioned on the narrow bunk bed. It had only taken her short time afterward until she to fell asleep. 


End file.
